The real question, not often asked is are you living your daily life relying on the strength of God? That question is for the Christian and also for the person who has not yet, accepted the reality of their separation from God our Creator, and the subsequent blessing He gives in this life and in eternity. It is a question we all need to ask ourselves. Often we get so involved with our lives that we fail to live it as God intended.

          We are God's creation and He has a will for each of our lives. It is the best life we could live. If we living in God's will we will be happier, emotionally and physically. Our relationships with our spouses, children and family will be stronger and so much better.

          Surely we all want peace and happiness. Do you know that is what God wants for you too? God has made a provision for each person on earth. He wants you to be reconciled to Him and He has made the way.

          The reality is that those who have not believed and received Christ as their Savior, are in reality dead, totally alienated from the real Life, who is Jesus Christ. You live for yourself. God says, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." (Ephesians 5:14)

          Isn't it a waste to not life our lives in the fullest by living for the Lord Jesus Christ and let Him guide us and give us His strength?

          Lets look this morning at some of God's plan and the blessing that accompany living in His will.

I. Believers are saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph.. 1:15-16) Paul expresses his joy in hearing that the Ephesians had believed and been saved.

A. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

B. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

1. In this church, as in all Bible believing churches, you repeatedly hear the truth that works cannot save. We do not earn or merit our salvation. Salvation is the free gift of God, given to those that believe God, and believe what God has said in His word.

2. God says that we all are sinner lost in our trespasses and sin. Yet, God so loved us that He came to this earth, incarnate in man, the man Jesus Christ and He suffered and died for our sins. We never get tried of proclaiming that truth. It has saved all who believed in Christ, and will save all who will believe.

A. One trait of a believer is that he will love the saints of God. As Jesus has loved us, so we also love our brothers and sisters in Christ.
1. The love of the saints comes from saving faith. This too is a part of God's plan for believers. We need the love and support of each other. Believers have a common bond in Jesus Christ that blinds them together in a common faith, goal and future.

2. We all hear a lot of talk about love in the world, but Christians have the ability to God as God loves. We admit the reality that most in this world we live in are not interested in showing God's love to others. The world, lost in sins and trespasses is selfish and loves what benefits them.

The divorce rate in our country and in our churches shows that many husbands and wives do not have a biblical love for their spouses. God's love is not based on merit, good looks, or meeting the emotional needs of the other. It is unmerited favor. People will disagree and find themselves at odds with each other. But one thing is clear....it takes a commitment and a godly love to bring reconciliation. Often couples give up and fail to let God work in their lives.

It is hard to love our fellow saints when we are at odds with our families.

B. Paul makes mention of this truth when writing to the Ephesians, Colossians and to Philemon.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints" (Eph. 1:15).

"Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints" (Col. 1:4).

"Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus" (Philemon 1:5-6).

"For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Heb 6:10).

C. For Paul to have heard of their love of the saints clearly it must have been very apparent to everyone. Biblical love is more than a feeling. Yes, we do "feel" love towards others, but real love, the Love of Christ is seen in action.

ILLUS: I recently read the following illustration about love in action within a family. Christian coach Dave Simmons relates this event when he I took Helen (eight years old) and Brandon (five years old) to the Cloverleaf Mall in Hattiesburg to do a little shopping. As we drove up, we spotted a eighteen-wheeler parked with a big sign on it that said, "Petting Zoo." The kids jumped up in a rush and asked, "Daddy, Daddy. Can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?"

          "Sure," I said, flipping them both a quarter before walking into Sears. They bolted away, and I felt free to take my time looking for a scroll saw. A petting zoo consists of a portable fence erected in the mall with about six inches of sawdust and a hundred little furry baby animals of all kinds. Kids pay their money and stay in the enclosure enraptured with the squirmy little critters while their moms and dads shop.

          A few minutes later, I turned around and saw Helen walking along behind me. I was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. Recognizing my error, I bent down and asked her what was wrong.

          She looked up at me with those giant limpid brown eyes and said sadly, "Well, Daddy, it cost fifty cents. So, I gave Brandon my quarter." Then she said the most beautiful thing I ever heard. She repeated the family motto. The family motto is in "Love is Action!"

          She had given Brandon her quarter, and no one loves cuddly furry creatures more than Helen. She had watched both of us do and say "Love is Action!" for years around the house and Kings Arrow Ranch. She had heard and seen "Love is Action," and now she had incorporated it into her little lifestyle. It had become part of her.

          What do you think I did? Well, not what you might think. As soon as I finished my errands, I took Helen to the petting zoo. We stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon. I had fifty cents burning a hole in my pocket; I never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it.

          Because she knew the whole family motto. It's not "Love is Action." It's "Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!" Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive. When you love, benefits accrue to another's account. Love is for you, not for me. Love gives; it doesn't grab. Helen gave her quarter to Brandon and wanted to follow through with her lesson. She knew she had to taste the sacrifice. She wanted to experience that total family motto. Love is sacrificial action. Dave Simmons, Dad, The Family Coach, Victor Books, 1991, pp. 123-124.

          We all like to hear our family, wife, husband, friend, children, grand children, and friends say "I love you." But if is just hollow words if it is not backed up with action. We have to show it.

2. One of the reasons our church has fellowships and get together like the ladies' meetings is to give us the opportunity to come together. I see it as a time to show our love for each other. However, often people put others things first, before having a opportunity to spend time with their bothers and sisters in Christ. We always announce fellowships weeks in advance so people can make plans to attend. Many times folks put other activities first, like children's games to even grocery shopping. Love is action....

A. It was God's plan that believers have the ability to overcome the world. His plan was to give us the knowledge of the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

B. Paul prayed for the Ephesians and his fellow Christians that would have wisdom and knowledge of God.

1. That is the heart of every pastor and Bible teacher.

2. Note what God said to Israel, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." (Hosea 4:6)

3. A lack of knowledge will destroy us. We all know that there are many false religions, many who call themselves Christians, yet have been deceived and have accepted a false religion. Do you understand that when they stand before the Lord, their lack of knowledge and not believing the truth will be tragic for them. What of the many who die trusting in false religion who believed the devils lies, and when they die wake up in the fires of hell. Think of the Moslem suicide bomber who blows himself up killing other people, having be taught that he will wake up in heaven and to a paradise and 70 virgin girls.

4. This is why godly pastors work so hard at that their studies. They labor in the word to know what the Bible teaches so they can teach God's word to the people God has given to shepherd.

           If the people believe God's word and apply it to their lives they are blessed in their lives by their knowledge of God's word and they bring honor to the Savior. Sadly, as Hosea stated, if they refuse to believe and live by God's word....then God will withdrawn His preacher and give them what they want. He did this will the nation of Israel. Not only would their rejection of living for the Lord effect their lives, but their children as well. Understand He is not talking to the lost, but to believers.

A. Note what God says in Titus 2, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:11-13)

B. Can you see hear that God is connecting godly living with the blessed hope of heaven. The Christian knows that heaven is and eternity with Christ is the blessed hope. We long for the Rapture and to be resurrected in Jesus Christ. Christians long to overcome sin and for the day we no long have the sin nature.

C. John says, "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:3).

D. What a blessing the believer has when he knows the truth and lives by it...as Paul said to Timothy, "That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Timothy 6:14)

           There is great reward presently in this life and in the life to come, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8).

A. You and I cannot live for God in our own strength. God's plan is that Christians have God's strength which comes from the Holy Spirit. By the power of God a believer can live a godly life and have peace and joy.

B. God loves us wants the best for us...He therefore says to us, "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:15-18) Circumspectly means living exactly, perfectly or diligently.

C. In the future for the Christian there will be great reward if we live circumspectly.

ILLUS: Adoniram Judson, the great missionary to China said this: "A life once spent is irrevocable. It will remain to be contemplated through eternity. The same may be said of each day. When it is once past, it is gone forever. All the marks which we put upon it, it will exhibit forever. Each day will not only be a witness of our conduct, but will affect our everlasting destiny.

           How shall we then wish to see each day marked with usefulness?! It is too late to mend the days that are past. The future is in our power. Let us, then, each morning, resolve to send the day into eternity in such a garb as we shall wish it to wear forever. And at night let us reflect that one more day is irrevocably gone, indelibly marked."

           What a terrible price we pay in trading the world's pleasures for God's wonderful rewards. What a great price we pay when we refuse to let God lead us and let Him direct our lives. At the BEMA judgment of Christians God says many there will suffer great loss.....I do not think many comprehend what it means to suffer lost.

           To live for Christ bring peace and joy in our present lives. He makes us able to face all the difficulties, heartaches living in this sinful world begins.

A. What a wonderful thing is life in Jesus Christ. What a compassion there is between something that is dead and that which is alive.

ILLUS: Have you ever been to a wax museum? Figures molded from wax depict both the famous and infamous and events in history. People come in and if the figure is well done say..."Oh, how life like they are." But there is no life in wax..the figure is dead.

           Ever been to a funeral and as people walk by and view the body, if the funeral director has done a good job, they will say "He looks so good like they are alive."

           The truth is...that is only a body, the decomposing remains of one who was once alive. No matter how good the cosmetics are there is no life B. Life is a precious thing. How we all take it for granted.

1. The plan of God is to offer salvation to all. He wants to quicken us....make us alive in Jesus Christ.

2. It is by God's grace you are here this morning....God has given each of us life and brought us to this point. He is challenging believers to live a godly life and reap the present and future rewards. How better would be our lives if we all lived every day for Him.

3. He is speaking to the unsaved that may be here also...He is offer real life...everlasting life.

          I will close with this true story. When Napoleon flung his troops across the Alps, and they were climbing their way over the snowy peaks to the sunlit plains of Italy, a most pathetic incident took place. A little drummer-boy was caught by a sliding avalanche on the mountain and shot into the crevasse. Unhurt, he found himself on the ledge. Far above him was the winding host going zigzag up the mountain. The soldiers who had witnessed the accident looked back, but they dared not turn aside; there orders were "Onward!"

          The little lad commenced to play on his drum the relief call, and they heard him. Many a father in that French army, I think, wished there would come orders to relieve the lad; and then, as they wound out of sight and again came into view, they heard the appeal on the drum. Napoleon was told what had happened, but what was a little drummer-boy to him? What was a little drummer-boy to the great host that he was leading over the Alps, and he would not give the order to save the lad. His command was to "March on!"

          The lad noticed the forms of his comrades getting fainter and fainter, and when he saw that there was to be no rescue, he knew his death would soon come. The soldiers heard him stop the relief call on his drum. For a few minutes there was silence, and then they heard him beating his own funeral march. The veterans in that army wept. They wept, and as they told of it by the campfires years after, they wept again. The lad beat his own funeral march; he had to lie down and die. There was no rescue, no hope, nothing but despair and death. He was not important to his commander.

          But that is not the story of the Cross. There is a funeral march being played from the judgment hall. It is played for those who die in their sins and trespasses having rejected God's free offer of salvation. But on the cross out side Jerusalem; Jesus Christ suffered and died, the real Son of God. He made himself the substitute for us, He paid the sin debt we could not pay. He our great God and Commander loves us with such as love that He gave Himself for us...that we might have life. There is joy, and there is gladness, come from the death of Christ. --John Robertson (modified)

          The life of each one of us is precious to our great Commander, even the life of the most insignificant "drummer-boy" in His army. Still, each of us should stand ready to die, when by our death Christ's eternal purposes march forward, unhindered by us. --Duane V. Maxey

          For those that accept God's plan there is this profound truth....."For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)